Wake Forest assisted living facility fined for neglect

A state advisory panel on Thursday recommended that the assisted living facility Wake Forest Care Center pay a $22,000 fine for among other issues neglecting an infectious bedsore of a 63-year-old male resident so severely that he required a three-week recovery in the hospital.

An article in the News & Observer about the facility highlighted the importance and role of North Carolina's recently instituted star-rating system.  While the Wake Forest facility was operating under a license, the facility had zero out of five stars.  Explaining in the article, state spokesman Jim Jones said that the star-rating and the licensing processes have nothing to do with each other.

However, consumers can use the star-rating system to obtain information on how well facilities in the state care for residents.  The system was established in response to requests from North Carolina citizens for increased availability of public information regarding the care provided in adult care facilities.  The program became effective January 1, 2009.